Badge in Azure

Chapter 1442: Advancing One After Another (Part 2)

After spending a few seconds lamenting the “loss,” Saleen left the Hall of Gods. Since he was allowed to come back in the future, he had no intention of returning the general’s badge.

He went back to the Cemetery of Heroes and waited near the general’s grave. Nailisi stood at his side, looking obedient. She wouldn’t dare pull any funny business in the presence of a level-18 heroic spirit.

She was smart enough to know who she could mess with and who was off-limits.

Saleen had sealed his power at level-12. He needed to get used to things at the imperial city, or he would have a hard time on Myers Mainland. The pain of having his power forcefully sealed could not be expressed in words. Imagine what it would be like to run 24 hours without stopping and without tiring but being forced to walk with a crutch at a speed faster than a snail but slower than a tortoise. Well, that’s pretty much how Saleen felt.

He bowed and saluted the general after seeing Nailisi standing by his side in one piece.

The general then said, “Saleen, give the badge back to me.”

“Huh?”

“No need for you to hold onto it. You were only able to enter this time because of the soul brand I left on it. If you try to enter again on your own, you’ll end up getting killed by the magic arrays in the royal palace.”

Saleen returned the general’s badge to him exasperatedly.

“Don’t be sad. If you bring a demigod next time you’re here, I’ll allow you to stay in the Hall of Gods another month,” the general added while smiling.

Saleen was thinking there was no way he would do that again unless he came upon another piece of divine persona. Last month’s energy consumption was exorbitant. He used up half the wealth he brought just getting here.

Furthermore, he had no intention of wasting more resources just to train for a dozen years or so.

The general had no idea that Saleen had advanced to level-13, and he didn’t offend him by probing the mage’s level. He simply assumed Saleen had risen to level-12. It was hard for a level 12 mage to advance further, so the figured he kid would definitely come back to seek his help.

The general was satisfied that he’d mended fences between him and Saleen, the grandmaster’s stubbornness notwithstanding.

“So this is goodbye then.” Saleen bowed to the general again, on behalf of Nailisi.

Nailisi took a look at the general, who nodded and said, “Go now. Remember to tell your master to come back and visit.”

“Will do.” Nailisi behaved herself. She then marched out of the cemetery with Saleen.

The cemetery was eerily quiet now that all beings had digested the Lord of Glory’s double earlier this month. No one would ever leave their grave without a reason.

Saleen strode outside the cemetery and turned around to take one last look at the gates. Nailisi then said, “Master, the general is irritated with you.”

“How so?”

“He said you brought a lot of people to the Hall of Gods. That would have really strained the place.”

“Heh…” Saleen didn’t answer. Nailisi’s character seemed to have changed after she was patched up. Saleen hoped the general hadn’t planted any tricks inside her.

Saleen sped up and Nailisi followed, saying, “Master, that general’s not a good guy. Don’t ever go back there!”

Saleen flashed a smile. That was the Nailisi he knew!

“Well, the general’s not really a bad guy though. He only wants to leave the place. In his eyes, I’m not someone he could trade with on an equal footing. It’s perfectly normal for him to use me. But don’t worry, Nailisi. If I hadn’t run out of tricks and needed someone to resurrect you, there was no way I would have returned.”

Nailisi’s eyes reddened and did not continue.

She knew perfectly well that her master didn’t want to go back there. He had done something against his will solely for her sake. That made her happy and sad at the same time.

Saleen then said to Nailisi after scaling the city walls, “Nailisi, the Winged Skull, and the others have advanced…”

“Me too,” she answered.

“Wait, what?”

“The general patched me up, and you would definitely advance in the Hall of Gods, so I…” Nailisi stopped talking all of a sudden.

Saleen smiled and continued, “You knew I would have advanced, so you no longer controlled your own powers, no?”

Nailisi blushed. She was reluctant to relinquish the soul bond between her and Saleen, so she refrained from advancing. But since the general had already told her that her master would definitely get to level-12, so she took the liberty to advance to level-12 too.

Seeing Nailisi’s embarrassment, Saleen added, “Well, the Winged Skull was concerned about you. Now that you’ve advanced, let’s just get everyone the hell out then.”

Saleen released the Winged Skull, Rafel, Nicholas and the others.

Speaking of advancement, it was simple for Saleen’s warriors to increase their level. Both Sul and Jola had become level-12 true mights. Isabella was still at level -11, like her mage.

The Winged Skull then took out the Pan Turtle Alchemy Ship. The equipment had been worked on in the Hall of Gods. Although its current speed did not match Saleen’s, it could still travel over 300 kilometers an hour underwater.

All conserved their stamina by entering the ship. As the magic power furnaces powered up, an egg-shaped bubble was conjured on the surface to reduce friction to the minimum while heading south.

The Winged Skull zipped all the way out of the Oceanic Ice Block while hunting magic beasts that had been thrown into the spirit space. Saleen didn’t put a stop to this since they were making good time. Anyway, he had spent too many high-level magic nuclei in the Hall of Gods and needed to replenish his stock.

The Floating City had been reworked and consumed a lot of energy. Despite his wealth, Saleen’s reserves were seriously strained by this expenditure.

The level of magic beasts dropped sharply after they left the Oceanic Ice Block. The Winged Skull deemed it a hassle to continue hunting on its own, summoning the golden skeletons to take over.

Saleen’s army needed magic nuclei. While they were useless against gods, they were still effective in conquering the plane. What Saleen needed to do was crush the Holy See and unite the four empires.

When the Lord of Glory materialized next time, he wanted to make sure the god was unable to find even another believer on their plane.

The Pan Turtle Alchemy Ship floated on the surface after emerging from the external fringes of the Oceanic Ice Block. Saleen released the Floating City and flew all the way back to Metatrin City. Almost all Sreeger Island mages had advanced two to three levels while he was away. He headed straight for Nature City after leaving the mages behind at Metatrin City.

Little had changed in Nature City during the Saleen’s absence, except for the Holy See, which had been thrown into chaos. Rumors were circulating about Saleen being killed in the battle, but such rumors had little influence in the Qin Empire and the Kingdom of Metatrin. Still, Saleen hadn’t anticipated this.

One piece of good news was truly shocking: The Holy See’s new pope killed had tens of red-robed bishops and then disappeared without a trace. How could a child that age pull off a stunt like that?

As such, the mess in the Holy See had nothing to do with Saleen.

Saleen deemed it too much of a hassle to play any more tricks. He gave Don a direct order—organize an expeditionary force to take out the Holy See. He’d done enough at Cologne City. He had no intention of using the Floating City’s power.

Saleen then took the Floating City to pay a visit to Grand Duke Iron Blood to ask the grand duke if he still intended on maintaining the alliance.

Saleen saw a considerable change in his mindset after advancing to level-13; it was greater than ever! He no longer viewed someone like Grand Duke Iron Blood as an enemy but rather as someone to use to further his own agenda.

Taking out the gods should have been his goal. A mage’s goal could not be one of conquest and reigning supreme.

During the dozen or so kilometer chase with the Lord of Glory’s double, Saleen felt he was on the brink of death. No tricks would have worked against a god. Absolute power was the only way to go, the only way to turn things around.

Luck was on Saleen’s side. He had been able to resurrect Nailisi and heal Rafel and Nicholas. The Lord of Glory had no idea that Saleen had so much messed-up equipment with him, so the god was befuddled when his double materialized. Being trampled by a weak being using equipment would have been enough to drive any god crazy. Saleen thanked his lucky stars he got the upper hand in that bloody battle!

The Lord of Glory was an intolerant god who considered even the slightest insult unforgivable. That was why his double gave chase afterward. If the Lord of Glory had learned his lesson, next time he would try to assassinate Saleen.

The gods’ anger smoldered for several days and nights within the Lord of Glory’s divine kingdoms. Areas surrounding the Lord of Glory’s temple had all been purified by holy light.

He had let his most powerful double advent and brought a divine-persona fragment to a weak plane, yet he ended up being killed all the same.

That mage by the name of Saleen possessed lightning equipment.

By the time he thought of asking personally what was happening on Myers Mainland, he found out that his most favorite oracle on the mainland was dead. The last pope lost the three godly items he had personally bestowed and died. The new pope was incapable of taking his divine order.

How can I ever advent again?

While the Lord of Glory was still being frustrated with what was going on, Saleen was facing off against the saint in secret room. That little girl glowered at Saleen with vengeful eyes. Saleen then said, “Your god told you to not hate and to love your enemy.”

“You’re not an enemy, you’re a blasphemer!” That little girl’s voice was piercingly shrill. What had gotten into her?

She answered frostily, “I know you’ve hurt God. You blasphemer, I admit that I don’t have ample power to bring you down, but you’re gonna die.”

“You are a saint. You shouldn’t be harboring negative emotions. You would disappoint your god.”

“I hope I become a combat angel, then I shall split your head open with my Sword of Glory.”

“The chance of your doing that is slim. But then again, I wouldn’t kill you. I have no idea of how to find the Lord of Glory’s divine kingdom next time without you.” Saleen was chuckling but his eyes were ice-cold during this weird exchange.

He regretted keeping the little girl around a long time ago just to challenge the god’s might. It was lucky Nailisi didn’t end up staying dead and that nothing happened to his children.

Saleen vowed not to take such risks in the future even if he could go back in time. The little girl watched Saleen’s back quietly. Her frail hand reached for the bread at the side of her bed. That was the first time she had eaten in days.

She told herself she needed to survive. That was the only way she would be able to give her god information about the blasphemer.